What is Fair Trade ?
A Fair Trade certified coffee means that the coffee has been audited throughout the supply chain to meet certain sustainability and labour standards.
How Coffee Becomes Fair Trade Certified
Coffee sold through a Fair Trade organisation also makes its coffee grower and producers pay a minimum price, higher than the commodity price of coffee. There are several organisations (such as Fair trade America, Fair trade International, and Fair Trade Certified) that certify coffee as Fair Trade.
Fair Trade Coffee and Direct Trade Coffee
Direct Trade is a catch all term for sourcing processes that get a coffee roaster as close to dealing directly with the coffee farmer as possible.
While Fair Trade and Direct Trade might have similar goals of fairly paying coffee producers in the end, the Fair Trade label is a third-party certification while Direct Trade is more of an ideology. If you see a Direct Trade logo on a bag, it’s only “certified” by the coffee roaster, based upon their specific internal definition of Direct Trade coffee.